Enemy's Enemy
by Lily Hanson
Summary: Follows Goldfish, Pooh-Bear, and Honeybees - It was only a matter of time before Dayu and Dekker found out about Serrator's last encounter with Serena. They decided they wanted to do something about it.
1. Recruting the Right Teacher

_Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Power Rangers: (Super) Samurai. This is purely fan-made._

* * *

One thing Serena hated about the words _"I'll be right back"_ was that they were usually a lie.

She had gone to the store with Mike and Kevin. The house was running low on a few supplies and Serena figured taking the prank mastermind out of the house would prevent anymore chaos from starting while she was gone.

They needed to pick up honey. When Mia and Kevin had covered Emily in honey they had been really generous with the amount they used. Serena was still laughing in her head at Mia and Kevin's revenge ideas for Goldfish, Pooh-Bear, and Honeybee. Antonio had been forced to wash Serena's sheets by hand, which the Samurai had sprinkled in cornstarch to help Mia get a more comfort, with nothing more than the bathroom sink, laundry detergent and a toothbrush. His task had taken him a few hours to complete, and by the end of it he had sworn to leave Mia alone until her sunburn healed.

Mike had received a different punishment. With symbol power, Kevin made a Winnie-the- Pooh costume for Mike, and he was forced to wear it until Mia's sunburn healed. Just to make sure he wouldn't slip out of it, Kevin secured the zipper so Mike couldn't undo it. Only Kevin knew how to get it to slide back down so Mike could be freed, and the only time the blue Ranger would allow Pooh-Bear out of his costume was for bathroom breaks.

The costume was complete with a hat, leaving only Mike's face exposed, slippers for Mike's feet, and mittens, and Mike needed to wear all of it, all the time.

So when Serena and Kevin took him out in public, he covered himself up by borrowing one of Ji's kimonos. With the hat, the mittens, and slippers he still looked like Winnie-the-Pooh, but for some reason, Winnie-the-Pooh wearing a kimono was less embarrassing for Mike.

While Kevin and Mike were left in the store to pick up a decent supply of honey (with Kevin forcing Mike to carry the bottles of honey for humour's sake), Serena had gone across the street to the pharmacy, hoping she could pick up a few supplies for the first aid-kit Ji kept handy, as well as a few creams for Mia's sunburn. Though she loved seeing Mike walk around as Winnie-the-Pooh, she did want to see the end to Mia's suffering. It was also a little weird seeing her sister cuddling and kissing Winnie-the-Pooh in a not-so-innocent way.

She told Mike and Antonio she would be right back and had gone just to cross the street. Fate was not on her side.

After picking up the supplies for the first aid kit, as well as a cream that promised to relieve pain from sunburns, Serena was distracted by the birthday cards. Her father's birthday was coming up, and though there was a no-contact rule, she thought her father would still appreciate receiving a card from his two daughters, and she would sign Terran's name as well, though he wasn't living with her. As she pulled out a card with a chipmunk on the front, a man walked up behind her. She made nothing of it.

"Cute," he said to her when he saw her choice of cars. Serena put it back.

"It's for my father. Cute isn't really his thing."

She picked out another card, this one had a picture of a tractor on the front. As she was about to open it, the man beside her grabbed her arm.

"You and I need to talk."

Serena dropped the card and reached for her Samuraizer. She grabbed it, but the man grabbed her wrist. He squeezed tightly, forcing her to let it go. Serena looked up and gasped.

"Son of a bitch…"

"We saw what you did to Serrator," Dekker whispered as he started pushing Serena towards the back exit.

"I'll do it to you," Serena growled as she struggled to get away. She didn't want to draw any attention to herself, but she didn't want Dekker to have his way. Serena tried to pull her arms free while glaring at Dekker, "Unlike Serrator, I know you have a heart."

Making sure no one had seen him; Dekker pushed Serena to the door. He held her tight so she wouldn't get away, and then reached out, pretending like he was going to open the door. Instead, a red glow appeared in the crack and Serena knew what would come next. She closed her eyes and braced herself to travel through the gap.

Moments after Serena disappeared, a group of boys walked by the cards, with one of the boys accidentally kicking her Samuraizer. He looked down to see what his foot had touched and furrowed his brow. He reached to pick it up, calling his friends over.

"This is the weirdest cell phone I've ever seen," he said, showing his friends. He opened it, only to confuse himself even more when he saw the cellphone looked like a paintbrush. "Artists, huh?"

"Let me see," his friend grabbed the phone from his hand and started pressing all the buttons; "I can't do anything. The phone's locked. I can't dial numbers or anything. It's useless."

Another boy took the phone from his hand. He fiddled around with it. "Without unlocking it, you can dial the numbers programmed."

"The phone is useless," the second boy said, "We might as well return it. Maybe there's a reward for it. Who do we call?"

The other boys started snickering, "It's a real toss-up. Should we call Aquablue, Goldfish, Honeybee, Hot-Stuff, Momma Pink, or Pooh-Bear?"

"Artists," the one boy rolled his eyes.

"Call Hot-Stuff," another boy suggested. "Maybe we'll get a reward."

"Dude, we have no idea who the phone belongs to. Call Momma Pink, at least we'll know that's a woman."

"It's probably this guy's mom or something. No way," the boy started to call the number for Hot-Stuff.

-Samurai-

Jayden was outside training when his Samuraizer went off inside the house. Emily walked by and saw Jayden was getting a call from Serena. She figured he wouldn't mind it if she answered the call for him. After all, Serena was her sister.

"Hello?" she answered and started making her way to the door.

"Hey, Hot-Stuff," the voice, male, on the other end greeted her. Emily froze. The voice didn't sound threatening. It sounded like it belonged to a kid even younger than herself, but it was still a problem for two reasons: one: this was Serena's Samuraizer. Only she should be making calls. Two: whoever this kid was, he had no right calling her Hot-Stuff.

"Who is this?"

"We found your friend's phone," the kid answered. "We're at the pharmacy on Wilson Road if you wanted to come pick it up."

Emily was too smart to fall for this. After Frankie, she knew better than to meet with a teenage boy alone, especially when she knew he wasn't alone. He had said "we", meaning he was with a group.

"I'll be right there," Emily smirked, "Thanks, a lot."

"So, you got a name or should I just keep calling you Hot-Stuff."

"Jayden," Emily answered, "Call me Jayden."

She hung up the phone and skipped outside, "Jayden! Serena lost her Samuraizer and some kids found it. I told them you would go pick it up."

"She what?" Jayden frowned, "She knows better than to lose her Samuraizer."

"I know," Emily nodded her head. "You go pick it up from the boys before they start messing around with it. I'll call Kevin and Mike. Hopefully she's still with them."

-Samurai-

Serena hadn't traveled through a Gap in so long that she had forgotten just how bad it felt. She landed ungracefully on a hard, cement floor and was pulled back to her feet before she could get her bearings. She was pushed into a room and she heard a door closing behind her. She spun around and began pounding on the door until she recognized where she was. The door was completely sealed off. There was no light from outside that came into the room. The only light Serena was from a flashlight that had been left in the middle of the room. As far as Serena could see, the room was completely sealed off. Not a crack in sight. There was no escape, and there was no way anyone, including a Nighlok, could get in unless they came through the sealed off door.

Serena began to tremble as she walked over to the flashlight and she recognized it instantly. It was the flashlight Dekker had stolen from Emily. She knelt down to pick it up, and saw something else that was familiar: Emily's pictures. One was a picture of Serena and Emily from years before, and the other was a picture of the six Samurai Rangers and Ji. Both pictures were in the frames Mia had bought Emily for her seventeenth birthday.

Beside the flashlight and the pictures was a note. With a shaky hand, Serena lifted the note.

"_Recognize the prison? I left you a few things from home. Hopefully you feel a little more comfortable._

"_We saw what you did to Serrator. Unfortunately, you haven't managed to kill him, but that's the closest anyone's come in centuries. We'll need your help. We want him gone just as much as you do, so do as you're told, and when training is done, we'll consider sparing your life._

"_Dayu."_


	2. In There Somewhere

Serena fought to kill. She didn't care about Dekker and Dayu's plan to kill Serrator. She didn't care if they wanted to train her or to be trained by her. She didn't care about anything that they wanted. She wanted to go back home and get out of this prison.

But she was taken out once again, smacked hard in the face with Dayu's wooden sword. Serena knew Dayu was enjoying this. She picked herself up and stood on shaky legs. She was tired, but she couldn't give up until Dekker called the end to the training lesson. If she showed herself to be a quitter, Dayu and Dekker would likely change their minds about her.

She needed to kill them before they killed her. She lifted her sword to start the fight again, but Dekker came over and snatched it from her hands. He pushed her back to the ground, hitting her once more.

"You're pathetic," he shook his head. Dayu rubbed her arm, where Serena had left a few bruises. Unfortunately, bruises weren't going to kill Serrator. Dayu and Dekker dropped the training equipment and without a word they left the room, locking Serena in. She sat up, against the wall, and pulled her knees to her chest. Though they weren't trying to kill her yet, they weren't holding anything back.

She wished she could hear what they were talking about outside of her room, but the fact that she was completely sealed in meant that the world was sealed out. She couldn't see, hear, or feel anything that happened beyond her walls. For all she knew, earth was already destroyed and this was the only safe place.

She reached out to pick up the pictures Dayu and Dekker had left her. They were pictures of her team – her family. She knew they were looking for her, but she didn't know if they would be able to find her. She didn't even know where she was.

The door opened again. Serena thought about running, but remembered the beating she received the last time she tried to escape, proving to her that the only way out was to kill both her captors. Unless…

She looked at Dekker. Though he was back to being the killer she first knew, there was still something gentle about him. She would never go back to him, especially with James' ring on her necklace, but maybe she could come up with another way out.

-Samurai-

In Panorama City, Jayden found the pharmacy he was looking for and stepped in. Now all he needed to do was find the boys who had Serena's Samuraizer, and he needed to make sure they didn't know what the Samuraizer really was.

He saw a group of boys standing by the cards and they seemed to be looking at something. Figuring that was a safe place to start, Jayden approached them.

"You're the ones with my friend's phone?" he asked and then saw the Samuraizer and he knew he had them. He held out his hand, trying for a friendly shake, "I'm Jayden."

"Hot-Stuff?" one boy asked. Jayden frowned. The other boys started gently shoving the one.

"Dude, I told you we should have called Momma Pink!"

"You're Jayden?" the boy asked. Jayden nodded his head, "You sounded like a chick on the phone!"

Jayden looked confused for a moment, and then remembered Emily had answered his Samuraizer. He started to laugh.

"I'm Hot-Stuff," he held out his hand, "Can I get my friend's phone back. She's missing it."

"She's missing it?" the boy asked with a smirk on his lips. Jayden nodded his head, still chuckling.

"She's way too old for you kids," Jayden took the phone and then reached into his pocket. He pulled out a twenty dollar bill from his wallet, "Thanks for the honesty, though, boys. My friend will be happy when she gets this back."

The boys took the money and grumbled as they headed out. Jayden laugh and shook his head. He opened Serena's Samuraizer and started looking through it. He saw she had switched everyone's names to their nicknames, "You would."

He put her Samuraizer in his pocket and then pulled out his own, "Emily, you knew those boys were expecting someone more along the lines of you or Mia, right?"

"You got the Samuraizer back?"

"Yeah. Have you reached Mike and Kevin?"

"They're looking around," Emily nodded. "They said she left them for a minute to head to the pharmacy."

Jayden looked around, "I hate to say it, Em, but I don't see her anywhere."

"The map also said there were no Nighlok in the city."

Jayden continued to look around, trying to figure out where his white Ranger would go. Serena wouldn't be careless enough to lose her Samuraizer and walk off without telling anyone where she was headed. Something must have happened. Unfortunately, without the Gap Sensors picking up on anything, Jayden couldn't figure out what.

"She wouldn't wander off," Emily said, as though she could read his mind. "And she wouldn't be fooled by someone like I was with Frankie. Are you sure she's not still in the store?"

"I'm sure."

"You have to be wrong," Emily said. "The only thing strong enough to grab her would be a Nighlok. If they had left the store the Gap Sensor would have gotten them. Look again."

Jayden searched everywhere, "I don't see her, Emily."

"Look again!"

"Emily, is someone there with you?"

"Mia and Antonio."

"Can I talk to Antonio, please?"

There was some shuffling on the other end before Jayden heard Antonio speak, "Jay, she's starting to freak out. The Gap Sensors didn't pick up on any Nighlok. Are you _sure_ she's not still in the store? Did you check…?"

"Everywhere," Jayden nodded. "Tell her I'll keep looking. Give her a hug and let me talk to Mia."

"Hey," Mia said when the phone was given to her. Jayden sighed.

"Call Mike and Kevin, tell them to keep looking around the city and to ask around. Something must have happened. Someone must have seen something. People don't just disappear."

"I'll talk to Ji too," Mia said. "He's got friends around the city. He's got friends working the cameras. Maybe they picked something up."

"Good idea," Jayden nodded. "Tell Emily we'll find her. She has to be around here somewhere."

-Samurai-

Dekker set some icepacks down before Serena and he pulled a few small cloths from his belt. He wrapped the cloth around one icepack and then he set the cool compress down gently on her shoulder.

"You're no good to us beaten down," Dekker told her. Serena nodded her head.

"Thanks."

"Your son," Dekker looked to Serena. Though he had no memory of his life with Serena he had met her and Terran since his memory had been erased. He knew all about Serena and her son and despite what Dayu and Serrator were making him do; he still worried about her and the little boy. He couldn't stop himself.

"He's fine," Serena said, not wanting to share more about Terran.

Dekker nodded his head, "I hate to take you from him, but I understand now that Serrator is the cause of mine and Dayu's misery. He's the reason I need to satisfy Urumasa's thirst for the ultimate duel. You nearly succeeded in killing him. If we stand any chance at freeing ourselves from this cursed life, we need you…"

"I used to know you, Dekker," Serena looked him in the eye, hoping that without removing Emily's symbol she could reach him and get him back on the Rangers' side, even if it was temporary.

"My fight with the Rangers is a long one," Dekker nodded. "Or so I have been told. We've been trying to kill each other since…"

Serena shook her head, "You're not just a killer, Dekker. For a while, we fought for the same team."

"We were aligned?" Dekker asked. It made no sense. He needed to duel with the red Ranger and it was a duel to the death. He could never imagine aligning himself with the man he who would either kill or be killed by him."

Serena nodded, "You know how to be kind. You know how to ignore Urumasa's cries. Deep down, you know that what you're doing now isn't the right thing. Somewhere, someone loves you and needs you back…"

"Dekker," Dayu stood by the open door, calling him back. He had delivered the ice. Serena could take care of herself, "Come back."

Dekker looked to Dayu and then back to Serena. Serena locked eyes with him.

"Someone's hoping you'll do what's right, Dekker. You're half Nighlok, but you're also half human. You decide which life you want to lead."

"Dekker!" Dayu called again. Dekker rose to his feet and hurried out the room, but Serena caught a look on his face that told her she was getting to him, even just slowly. She smirked when she saw the rage on Dayu's face. Dayu waited for Dekker to be gone and then stormed over to Serena, picking up one of the swords on her way over. She smashed it into the white Ranger and then pinned her against the wall.

"Not a word to him," she growled. "We have a deal…"

"A deal you broke," Serena said. "Besides, I don't want your sloppy seconds. You can have him back."

"I know what you're trying to do," Dayu glared at Serena, "And unless you want anything to happen to your lover, your sister, or your son, I would suggest you stop…"

"Touch even just a hair on their heads and I'll kill myself," Serena snapped. "You won't have your key to stopping Serrator, it'll weaken the Rangers, the Nighlok will press the advantage, Serrator and Xandred will flood the earth, and you and Dekker will have nowhere to hide. Even if you find each other, you'll never be happy again. I'll make sure of it."

Dayu stepped away from Serena with a growl. She picked the icepacks up and walked out with them, too furious to let Serena treat her wounds even with just ice.


	3. Need To Be

Emily searched the map endlessly for any signs of her sister. There was no possible way a human being could just disappear without a trace. Something had happened; she just needed to find out what.

By now, everyone was home. Jayden, Mike, and Kevin were back from looking around the city and they had no news about Serena. No one had seen her anywhere, not that anyone had been paying attention to her. They had no reason to. To the city, she was just another person.

Ji was still in his room. The city was full of cameras, mostly for security. He had a few friends who looked them over just to be sure the Rangers' identities didn't go public. Everyone was hoping that some camera somewhere had seen Serena.

Suddenly, Emily beat her fists into the table and stormed off down the hall. Storm followed her, whining the entire way. She knew Emily was upset and wanted to be of comfort. Mike watched Emily leave with a sigh. He wanted to help, but there was nothing he could do. Defeated, he removed his Pooh-Bear hat. He was sure Mia and Kevin wouldn't care if he took the costume off. Now was not the time to mess around.

"I'll go see if she's okay," Mia whispered, knowing her going to talk with Emily could go one of two ways. Either Emily would throw herself into Mia's arms, taking the pink Ranger in as a surrogate sister while they searched for Serena, or Emily would push Mia away, using the pink Ranger to get out all her frustrations at being unable to find Serena. Mia braced herself for either.

She knocked on the door to Serena's bedroom. Based on the whining from the dog and the sobbing that she could hear from inside the room, she had assumed Emily went to hide in there. She knocked and opened the door slowly, slipping inside. Without a word she sat down beside Emily, who was crying into Serena's pillow.

"We're looking for her," Mia whispered softly, "and she's looking for us. We'll meet halfway, Emy, I swear."

"What if she's hurt?" Emily asked, "Or if she's already dead? I hate being on this side! I hate it!"

"It's hard," Mia nodded her head. She had been on this side quite a few times – it was the side with the most to worry about. They had no idea where Serena was, what state she was in, and whether or not they would ever see her again. On the other side, Serena's side this time, Serena knew whether she was alive or dead and she knew her friends were looking for her. She still had her worries, but she had some hope.

Mia lay down beside Emily and hugged her tight. It hurt her sunburn, but her fears for Serena hurt a lot more, "We'll get through it by staying strong. You need to do that for Serena. You're no good to her, or us, if you spend all this time wishing it didn't happen."

Emily nodded her head and nestled closer into Mia. She needed to be strong, but she couldn't keep everything bottled up.

-Samurai-

Serena couldn't see outside. She had no idea what time it was and if it was night, but she was tired and decided to get some rest. If she was going to be sparring with Dekker and Dayu, she was going to need some sleep. Wishing she had been given a pillow or blanket or something more than picture frames and a flashlight for comfort, she lay down on the cold concrete and closed her eyes. She didn't bother turning off the flashlight. When the door was closed, it was her only source of light and she didn't want to lose that.

She closed her eyes for what felt like a minute before she was shaken from her sleep. Something was dropped in front of her face and she opened her eyes to see it was a bowl. Suddenly realizing just how hungry she was, she dove in.

"Dayu doesn't want me alone with you," Dekker said. Serena looked at him. She hadn't even noticed he had been the one to give her food. All she had seen was the bowl. She didn't even know what she was eating.

"Then why are you here?"

Dekker looked over his shoulder. Serena could tell Dayu had no idea he had brought her food. She hoped so for two reasons. It meant she was getting in Dekker's head and it meant there was more food on the way. Dayu wouldn't let her starve to death.

"You know something," Dekker said, "You know about my life, the life I've forgotten. Why have you not said anything before?"

"Maybe because you've been too busy being an asshole."

"I saved you from Dayu. We could have talked then."

Serena shook her head, "There's a reason I didn't want to share things with you, Dekker. It's because I can't trust you. You were aligned with us, but you've also hurt us. You made bad decisions. Like the one you're making now."

"Does it matter how Serrator is defeated?" Dekker asked. "By the time we're done with you…"

"Yeah, I'll be strong enough to kill Serrator. Thanks, Dekker, maybe your heart's in the right place… but it's… it's really not. I'm here because you and Dayu want to turn me into you. Maybe you don't want the whole half-Nighlok thing for me, maybe you do. But I know how this game is played. You're only going to let me out when you trust I'll do everything you ask of me. When you've brainwashed me. I want Serrator dead just as badly as you do, but I don't want to lose myself or my family on the way. I don't want to be like you, Dekker."

Dekker snatched the bowl from Serena's hand, "Live or die, Serena. There is no other choice. Serrator needs to be stopped."

"Live," Serena said, "Of course, live, but only if I'm free to be myself with the people I love. If you're going to turn me into a Dayu/Dekker hybrid, then I would rather die."

"Your family means a lot to you," Dekker said with a slight growl in his voice, "but you forget, I don't know my family. They were taken from me. Everything I ever knew, everyone I loved was taken from me."

"Or they were pushed away. Either way, acting like an ass won't bring them back. Kidnapping me won't bring them back. Killing Serrator won't bring them back. Good things happen to good people."

"Do you believe that?" Dekker asked. He got up and started for the door. "From what I've seen, you Rangers are living a pretty miserable life."

Serena looked to the floor. There was a lot of hurt that came with the Samurai life. Then she shook her head. A lot of good had come from being a Samurai as well.

"I still have a family, though. Somewhere out there is a home full of people who would do anything for me. Do you have that, Dekker? Do you have a place to call home?"

"Tomorrow, we work on defensive strategies," Dekker told her, pulling the door open. "For your sake, I hope we won't be starting from square one. Serrator won't go easy on you. Neither will I."

As the door slammed shut, Serena gulped. She knew she was in for pain, but she also knew she was bothering Dekker. If something she said bothered him, it meant he cared. On some level, he was listening to her.

_Author's Note: Okay, so with the new format of the site, anonymous reviews have once again been allowed for all stories, mine included. So, to all guest reviewers, here's a message from me about abusing the anonymity of guest reviews. This has been a problem for me in the past, and I intend to keep it as a problem of the past. Doing so is quite effortless. I simply log into my account and decline flames. Don't think you'll be keeping me up late at night, making me feel bad, or making me feel like my work is worthless. If I believed it was worthless, I wouldn't be posting it._

_Fanfiction is a site where authors can post their work to get feedback, not to be humiliated. Praising the work, or offering some helpful pointers are the intent for the review box, not flaming a story or making impolite demands. If you don't like something and can't be respectful of my work, then get out. There's a shiny back button at the top of the page and there are millions of other stories you can be reading. Surely there is one out there you will enjoy. Go read it._


	4. Intentionally Piss Her Off

Dekker hadn't been kidding about not going easy on her during training. Serena found herself slammed into the wall for a fifth time. If Dekker hit her any harder, she was sure he would knock her through the wall. It would be her escape, but only if she wasn't too hurt to run.

Before she could get back up to her feet, Dekker kicked her. As she coughed, reeling from the attack, he grabbed her and slammed her into the wall again, holding her against it. She had pissed him off and as much as it hurt, it felt great knowing she was in control. It was a weird kind of control, but it was still control.

When Dekker grabbed her by the neck and didn't let go before her face started to turn very red, Dayu grabbed him and ripped him away. As much as she wanted to see Serena dead, they didn't bring her here to kill her. Serena had been the only person to stab Serrator through the heart, and while it had managed to weaken him considerably for a while, he was still alive. If the Rangers, and Dayu and Dekker, stood any chance at defeating Serrator, it would be through Serena.

Dayu ordered Dekker to leave so he could cool off. As Dekker stormed out, Dayu turned to Serena with an intense glare. Serena chuckled.

"He's pissed about something."

"You're playing with fire," Dayu growled. "You keep this up and we'll find a way to win without you."

"My words for Dekker are true for you too," Serena looked Dayu in the eye. "I've seen your human form. I know you still have it in you. You know, you're only half a bitch. You're just a full bitch because you choose to be."

"You talked with him?"

"Yeah," Serena rolled her eyes, "I walked out of my prison, had a nice chat with one of my prison keepers, and then walked right back in here to be beaten. He came to me."

"You have a family to keep in mind, Serena. It would be a shame if anything happened to that beautiful son of yours…"

Serena was instantly on her feet. All her muscles were tense, ready for another fight. She knew she couldn't win, though. Not in this state.

"Touch Terran and you'll be hurting Dekker's son."

"You don't believe he's Dekker's son, do you?"

"That won't stop him from believing it once you make him remember," Serena growled. "That's what you want, right? You want him to remember his past so he'll remember you?"

"If I'm lucky, he'll never remember you."

"I'm a part of his life. If he doesn't remember me, he'll always be searching for something. You will never have him if you hide his past from him. Face it, we can't erase his exes. If we could, I would have erased you a long time ago."

"Watch your tongue," Dayu growled. "Dekker is my husband…"

"And the father of my child," Serena said. "Hurt Terran, and Dekker will never forgive you."

"And if I were to do to you as you have done to me?" Dayu suggested. "I know who your lover is…"

"I don't have a lover. He left me. Besides, he would never fall in love with a bitch like you, _and_ the Rangers would know you've entered the city long before you can ever find him."

"Then I guess that just leaves your sister…"

"Surrounded by family," Serena shook her head. "To get to Emily, you would have to get through all the Rangers, and with me gone, they aren't taking their eyes off her. You can't win."

Serena smirked a little smirk that tipped Dayu over the edge.

-Samurai-

With no sign of her sister, Emily trained harder than usual. She didn't know what she was training for, but she wanted to be ready. She was sure she wouldn't get Serena back without a fight.

"Emily," Ji called her from the door and waved her over. Emily followed him to the common room, where she saw the others staring at pictures. As she leaned over to look at them, Mike gently grabbed her arms.

"The cameras at the pharmacy did see something," Mike told her. Emily continued to stare at the pictures, moving from one to the other and watching as Dekker dragged her sister away.

"I've been searching endlessly for where she and Dekker would reappear, but she's nowhere in the city," Ji sighed. "He's taken her somewhere else."

"He didn't set off the Gap Sensor because he never left the store. We don't have any sensors inside the pharmacy," Jayden explained.

"So we go after him and…"

"We don't know where he went, Emily," Antonio said and gestured to Ji, "He's been looking for hours. Dekker doesn't want to be found."

"So we draw him out."

"How?"

Emily shrugged her shoulders, "Somehow. We can't just sit here and wait. Is this what you guys do for me?"

"Of course not, Emily, but…"

"There's no but!" Emily shook her head, "We go out there and find him, and we find my sister!"

"It's not that simple, Emily. We have no idea where to start looking," Kevin said.

Emily stomped her feet, "Well, she's not in the house! You can stop looking here!"

"Emily…"

"No!" Emily screamed. With tears streaming down her face, she turned and ran out of the house, determined to find her sister, even by herself. Mike got up to go after her, but Jayden grabbed her arm.

"Remember."

Mike nodded his head, "If she gets hurt, I'll kill you first."

"With Dekker comes Dayu," Jayden said, "And Dayu's favourite game is torturing Serena. She won't resist an open Emily."

Mike bit his lip, "I don't know how you talked me into this."

-Samurai-

Dayu slammed the door to Serena's prison and made sure it was locked. She didn't want to give up on Serena just yet, and hadn't hurt her too much. Just enough to get her point across.

She looked over to Dekker, who sat silently watching Panorama City through a Gap. Though they were miles and miles away from the Rangers, they knew it was best to keep an eye on them.

"Don't listen to her," Dayu told Dekker as she took a seat beside him and looked through the Gap, "She'll say anything to get out of here. Even lies."

"They don't feel like lies," Dekker whispered. Dayu wrapped her arms around him.

"You will get your memories back. You'll remember what you've lost. You don't need her for that."

"Ranger," Dekker gestured to the Gap. Dayu looked through and smirked. It was the yellow Ranger and from the looks of things, she was alone. When her back was turned to the Gap, Dayu pushed herself up and jumped through. She appeared right behind Emily, in the park of Panorama City. Taking the yellow Ranger by surprise, she wrapped her arms around her, one around her neck, the other around her arms and waist. Though Emily struggled, it wasn't enough to stop Dayu from heading back into the Gap.

-Samurai-

As Dayu reappeared in her hiding spot, she struggled to hold onto Emily. The yellow Ranger was pulling and kicking and doing everything she needed to get away. Dekker, seeing her struggle, punched Emily in the stomach. The yellow Ranger doubled over in pain as Dayu let her fall. As she lay on the floor, Dekker looked up at Dayu.

"Why bring her here?"

"To wipe that irritating smirk off her sister's face," Dayu took a rope from the pile of supplies she and Dekker had collected. She then kicked Emily, who had only just recovered enough from the punch to get to her knees. Dayu's kick sent her to the floor again, this time, on her stomach. Dayu pressed her knee into Emily back, and while the yellow Ranger struggled, Dayu tied the rope around her neck. When it was secure, and Dayu was sure the knot couldn't be undone she got up and backed away from Emily, while still holding the end of the rope. Emily touched the rope, now her leash, and then, with rage, charged for Dayu. The Nighlok responded by punching her stomach again. As Emily fell over, Dayu started to walk to the door. It only took a couple of steps before she started dragging Emily behind her by the neck.

Dekker watched Dayu open the door and dragged Emily into the room. He followed them inside and saw Serena on the ground, resting after Dayu's punishment. Once Serena saw Emily, it didn't take her long to recover. She was back on her feet, about to charge at Dayu. Dayu let go of the room and left the room, pulling Dekker out with her, leaving the girls on their own.

Serena dropped down next to Emily and pulled her up into her arms, "What the hell happened? Where are the others?"

"At home," Emily coughed and tugged on the rope around her neck, "They wanted to wait."

"If they're at home, how come you're here?" Serena asked. Emily averted her gaze. Serena shrieked, "You ran away? Alone?"

"They gave up!" Emily cried. Serena didn't have a reason not to believe her sister, but that story didn't sound right. As she shook her head, her eyes caught sight of Emily's Samuraizer. She pulled her sister into another hug, but one arm reached around her, pulling the Samuraizer from her pocket and putting it into her own. Then she pulled away from Emily and determined not to let her sister out of her sight, she grabbed the other end of Emily's rope and tied it around the belt loop of her shorts. With her sister attached to her, and a Samuraizer hidden in her pocket, Serena knew it was only a matter of time before they both got out.

She looked up at Emily, seeing the confusion at being tied to her. She sighed, "So you don't run away again."

"I'm sorry."

"This time, and only this time," Serena said as she pulled her sister in for another hug, "I'll let it slide."


	5. Journey Out

After secretly keeping their eyes on Emily and seeing her get taken by Dayu, the Samurai headed back home and rushed to the map, hoping their plan would work. So far, step one had been accomplished as planned: Emily had been kidnapped. Now the rest of their plan relied on luck, and stupidity on Dayu and Dekker's part. They needed Dayu to take Emily to the same spot she hid Serena. If she did that, the Rangers would know where they were hiding her, thanks to Emily's Samuraizer.

Mike chewed his nails nervously as Jayden, Mia, and Ji all fiddled around with the map. If this plan worked, he would see Emily again in no time. If it didn't, then he had just sacrificed his fiancée to the Nighlok. He would hate himself forever.

"Her signal's still alive," Mia sighed, "but it's nowhere in the city, or around the city."

Jayden tapped the map again and he too sighed, "She's not in the state, either."

Mike felt his stomach turn. This was bad. This was really bad.

"She's not in the country," Ji said, "However…"

Mike was sure he paused for an eternity. Really, it was only a couple seconds as he widened the map. Finally, Emily's signal appeared right over Japan. Mike sighed in relief, and then groaned loudly. Of all the places for Dayu to take a Ranger, it had to be Japan.

"How are we getting there?" Kevin frowned. "Airplane's too slow, and we can't all leave the country for days. What if a Nighlok attacks here?"

"I shouldn't have let her go," Mike shook his head. Antonio gave him a pat on the back.

"If she's with Serena, it'll be worth it," he reminded the green Ranger, "Sometimes you've got to give a little to get a little."

"Ji, do you think you have enough energy for a one-way trip?" Jayden asked. Ji pulled out his own Samuraizer, one he could only use for making symbols and nodded his head. Sending five Rangers across the world would take a lot of energy, but it was better to drain it from him than from Jayden or the Samurai. He didn't know what they would be faced with once they arrived in Japan and they needed to be at their best.

"You will be on your own coming home," he said. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He wanted to get this right, so he took his time tracing the symbol and put as much energy as he could into each stroke.

As he did that, Jayden turned to the team, "You guys already know, once we get to Japan, the Samuraizers will give us a better signal, but it still won't be exact. We're not going to find them right away, but we'll need to stay strong and keep looking."

"What else will we do?" Kevin asked. He pulled out his own Samuraizer and morphed. He didn't know what to expect once he reached the other side and would rather be prepared. The other boys followed. Mia hesitated. Tight spandex on her sunburn was something she had been trying to avoid.

"Do we have to morph?"

"It's for the best," Kevin nodded. Mia sighed and reluctantly morphed. She grumbled and cursed under her breath as the spandex hugged her tightly. Kevin gave her a pat on the helmet, the only part of her body that wouldn't hurt her if he touched it, "You should have put sunscreen on."

"Go, Rangers," Ji called out as a portal opened up. Without hesitating, Jayden jumped through it and Antonio was right behind him. Kevin was next to go, followed by Mia. Mike stood in the common room, staring at the portal. Ji shook his head, "GO!"

"Dude, chill," Mike said. "Last time I did this, I ended up fifteen years in the future and you were dead. Give me a minute to make sure it's safe. For your own sake… WHOA!"

Ji shoved Mike into the portal. It closed up right behind him and Ji sank to the floor, falling onto his back.

Storm hurried over to him and licked his face, partially because she wanted to comfort the tired man, partially because she had seen him push Mike into a mysterious portal that took him away. She would forever love him for that.

-Samurai-

Before being pulled from her sleep, the last thing Serena remembered was lying down with her sister in her arms. When she was woken up, she was woken up by Dayu and Dekker, who had ripped her away from Emily after untying the rope from her belt loop. Now, Dekker was fighting with Serena, trying to train her while Dayu held onto the end of the rope, still attached to a sleeping Emily's neck.

At least, Serena hoped Emily was sleeping. If Dekker and Dayu managed to untie Emily from Serena without waking Serena up, there was no telling what else they had been able to do. Serena wanted to make sure her sister was okay, but she couldn't do so until her training was over with.

She struck Dekker hard in the shoulder and his knees finally buckled, forcing him to the ground. Then, as he recovered, she jumped over him and rushed for Dayu, swinging her training sword once more and smashing it against Dayu, knocking her down and away from Emily. She stood protectively in front of her sister. Dekker was already back on his feet, and Dayu was up on her knees again. They wouldn't stay down long enough for Serena to look after Emily.

"Interesting," Dayu said, pushing herself back up with a look of realization on her face. Dekker had the same look. Before Serena could ask what they were thinking, Dekker attacked her again. Serena matched him blow for blow, but couldn't do anything about Dayu approaching her sister unless she managed to turn the tables on Dekker. With a cry, she did exactly that, sweeping Dekker off his feet. But when she turned around, she saw it was too late. Dayu grabbed the rope around Emily's neck, pulling her up. Emily was now wide awake and struggling to breathe.

Serena glared hatefully at Dayu, but her ears heard Dekker moving behind her. With another swing, she smashed the sword into the side of his head, taking him out so she didn't have to worry about him anymore. Then she threw her sword at Dayu, with the tip hitting Dayu in the forehead. It was a blunt tip and would leave nothing more than a bruise on Dayu's tough skin, but it was enough for Dayu to let go of Emily and fall back into the wall. Serena raced over to Emily and wrapped one arm around her sister.

Dayu rubbed her forehead, cursing from the pain, but then looked to Serena with a smirk, "Think you can do that with a real sword?"

Serena reached out with her free arm to pick her training sword up once more. She wouldn't stand unarmed with Dekker and Dayu nearby anymore.

Using the wall, Dayu pulled herself up and gestured to Dekker. Serena quickly glanced over her shoulder, just to make sure she had won. Dekker was sitting up, but it was obvious he wasn't able to continue fighting.

"Yesterday it was clear you were going to lose. Today, there was no stopping you," Dayu smirked. "I'll admit, I was scared for a minute."

Serena growled. She wanted to pull out Emily's Samuraizer from her pocket, call out her Spin Sword and stab Dayu, but if something went wrong and the Samuraizer was taken away or destroyed, they were never going home. She resisted the urge, but that didn't stop her from imagining Dayu's death over and over in her head.

Dayu started for the door, "Today, you passed. Hopefully you can keep that up."

Serena glared at Dayu as the half-Nighlok walked out of the room. She hated when Dayu looked happy, and now she was all smiles.

But Serena wasn't easily distracted. Dayu had left, but Dekker was still in the room. He looked to Serena curiously.

"You fought differently today."

Serena simply growled. She knew why, but she would be damned if she let them know the secret. She hugged her sister closer.

Dekker pulled himself to his feet. His was shaky, but he managed to stand, "You fought as though you had something to lose. Yesterday, it seemed like you couldn't care less about the outcome of training."

"Get out, Dekker," Serena pointed to the door with her sword. Dekker looked at Emily.

"It is because you care about her," Dekker said. "Your life means very little to you compared to the ones you love. Your sister, your son, even your lover."

Serena growled again, feeling like she was the one who needed the collar and leash. Dekker was reading her like an open book and she hated that. She needed to take control again.

"If you focus too much on me, you'll never find your answers," she said.

Dekker shook his head and smirked, "Aren't you the one with my answers?" he asked. He walked closer to Serena and Emily, but stopped just before stepping on the picture frames that were lying on the floor. Then, with a hard stomp, he smashed his foot down on one of the frames. Emily whimpered – they had been her present from Mia.

Ignoring the broken pieces of the frame, Dekker picked up a large piece of glass and continued his walk over to Serena and Emily. When he got too close though, Serena growled again. He stopped and held out his hand with the glass in it.

"Cut the rope," he gestured to Emily's neck. Serena snatched the glass and sliced at the rope around Emily's neck until it was torn enough to be pulled apart. The shard of glass now useless, Serena tossed it across the room, out of Dekker's immediate reach.

Dekker looked to Serena, "You are much more fortunate than I am. We both find ourselves here, lost. However, I find myself alone. You have someone looking for you, someone worth fighting for."

"To have a friend, you need to be a friend. Kidnapping me, beating me up, and threatening my sister won't earn you many friends."

"If we were friends, would you come find me?"

"Depends," Serena shrugged, "Would I like what I find?"

"You know my past. You tell me."

"I only know a part of it," Serena answered. "I know the part you tossed aside selfishly for power and greed. I don't want that for a friend. I want someone I can trust."

Dekker crossed his arms across his chest, "I'll tell you what; we're both after the same thing. We want to see Serrator's end. If I help you, will you help me?"

"I make no promises," Serena nodded her head. "But what about a truce? Until Serrator is dead, we leave each other alone. You stay away from me, my sister, my son, and my boyfriend, and I'll just imagine killing you."

"And after we destroy Serrator?" Dekker asked.

"We'll see what kind of person you are," Serena said. "If you're worth saving, I'll help you remember everything you need to know. If you're a monster, I'll kill you. You choose what you want, Dekker."

Dekker nodded his head and started for the door. Serena called him back for one more condition. She looked him in the eye, letting him know she wasn't messing around.

"Keep _your _lover under control," she said. "If she hurts my family, that'll reflect poorly on you."

"Dayu and I are merely allies."

"Yahuh," Serena nodded her head. Dekker gave her a curious look before he left. Serena hugged Emily tight. "Are you okay?"

"What's going to between you and Dekker?" Emily asked. Serena shook her head.

"Nothing, I swear, Emy. I'm just trying to get out of here."

"What about now?" Emily asked. Serena looked to her strangely. Emily pointed to the door, "It clicks when it locks."

"I know, Em, I…"

"It didn't click."

Serena was instantly on her feet and very carefully she tried the door. Emily was right, it was unlocked. Serena couldn't believe it when she pulled it open slightly. She turned around to Emily, holding her hand out. As Emily approached her, Serena grabbed her arm. She peeked outside, where Dekker and Dayu stood guard.

Only this time they weren't paying attention. Dekker had pulled Dayu aside and from what Serena could hear, he was insisting he check the bruise on her head.

"One three, we race," Serena whispered. "Just like when mom pulled pie from the oven and we wanted the first bite."

"You'll be right behind me, right?" Emily asked with a smirk. Serena shook her head and chuckled.

"Dream on. I'm the fastest sister. On the count of three, ready? One, two…"

Just as Serena expected, Emily took off before she was allowed. Serena raced out behind her, trailing slightly on purpose to make sure Emily made it to safety, and to finish what she started. Jogging backwards, she pulled Emily's Samuraizer from her pocket and traced a symbol. She knew she was underground, giving her a huge advantage. Before Dekker and Dayu could notice she and Emily had escaped, the room started shaking and clumps of the ceiling started to fall. As more and more started coming down, Serena shouted.

"Truce starts now!"

The earthquake stopped, leaving Dayu and Dekker a chance to dig themselves out safely, but still buying Serena and Emily more time to get away. Serena ran as fast as her legs could carry her until she was back on the surface. She saw Emily had stopped and grabbed her sister by the arm, pulling her along until they were hidden in the forest.

"Do you know where we are?" Serena and Emily ducked behind a rock. Emily shook her head.

"Earth."

"Where on earth?"

"Land."

Serena grumbled. She looked at the screen on the Samuraizer and gasped, "Japan! This place is in fucking Japan!"

"Bad things happen in Japan," Emily pouted. Then she looked up at Serena, "But there is the Tengen Gate. We'll be safe there, right?"

Serena smiled and ruffled her sister's hair, "This is why I keep you around, squirt. Any idea which way it is?"

Emily nodded, "James and I came this way with Terran. It's about an hour's walk that way."

She pointed through the trees. Really it meant nothing to Serena which way they went, as long as the path ended at the Tengen Gate. Trusting her sister, Serena got up.

"Tired, slow-poke?"

"Slow-poke?" Emily frowned, jumping to her feet and crossing her arms, "I won that race!"

"Only because I let you."

Emily shook her head, "No way. I'll race you back to the Tengen Gate."

"You're on," Serena nodded and the two bolted off towards the Gate. At this rate, they would make it there in half the time. The faster they found shelter and friendly faces, the better.


	6. Reunited

Mike didn't like the forest in Japan. Even with his connection to the trees and plants, he didn't know his way around like he did in the forest of Panorama City. But it was still better than nothing, and he was happy to be taking the lead. He had a feeling he was getting close to something, he just hoped it was Serena and Emily.

"This place is huge," Antonio looked around. "It'll be ages before we find anything."

"Don't talk like that," Jayden shook his head and opened his Samurai. Emily's signal was still coming from this location somewhere, which meant they were close.

"Do you guys hear that?" Mia asked, stopping for a moment to look between the trees. The boys stopped and looked around with her. Slowly their ears picked up on the sound of twigs snapping and they heard footsteps approaching.

"Emily?" Mike called just before Dayu burst from the trees, with Dekker right behind her. As the Rangers all adopted a fighting stance, drawing their swords, Jayden smirked. If Dekker had kidnapped Serena, and Dayu had kidnapped Emily, and they were together now, that meant Serena and Emily were together as well.

"Rangers?" Dayu shrieked, skidding to a stop before running into them. Dekker grabbed her arm, holding her back.

"Any fight now is useless," he said loud enough for the Rangers to hear clearly, "The Rangers have found us, Serena and the yellow Ranger got away. We've lost."

"You're a quitter now?" Dayu glared at her partner. She pointed to the group of Rangers, "The girls aren't with them. If we find them first…"

"We wanted to train Serena and we did," Dekker pulled on her arm again, trying to lead her away, "We know what it'll take to get her to fight Serrator and win. She promised me she would try."

"You were not to talk to her," Dayu growled. "I told you, Dekker, she spews nothing but lies…"

"But…"

"You left the door unlocked intentionally, didn't you?"

By now the Rangers were leaning on their swords. It was obvious that the only fight that was going to happen was between Dayu and Dekker.

Dekker shook his head at Dayu, "I have no idea what you're talking about. You saw it; Serena somehow had her Samuraizer with her. She must have…"

"The woman is a witch!" Dayu screamed at Dekker. He looked to her curiously.

"You hate her much more than the other Rangers."

Dayu frowned, "She stole something from me. And without knowing it, she's had a hold on it ever since."

"And forever will," Antonio said, smirking behind his helmet while reminding the Nighlok that he and the others were still there. He raised his hands, "Are we going to fight, or can we get on our way. We're kind of looking for someone. Two someone's actually. Have you seen them? Blonde…"

"Get out of my way," Dayu pushed through Antonio and Kevin and stormed off, obviously very unhappy. Dekker followed her, begging for her to understand he had not played a part in Serena and Emily's escape.

Though Mike didn't know the forest too well, he could tell Dekker and Dayu were headed the wrong way and fortunately so. He gestured to the Rangers to follow him as he continued down a trail. Jayden kept one eye on his Samuraizer, praying Emily's signal wouldn't drop.

The sun eventually started to set. Behind his visor, Jayden bit his lip. He wanted to call off the search for the night but he knew the others wouldn't agree, Mike especially. However, searching for them in the dark was going to be hard, and the fact that they were all tired would make it even harder.

"The Tengen Gate isn't too far from here," he spoke up. "Why don't we detour and head there for the night. We can collect food and supplies. Serena and Emily escaped, but we're not sure what state they're in."

He noticed the hesitation but the team did agree, understanding it was best to be as prepared as possible, they changed course and headed for the Tengen Gate.

-Samurai-

Serena had been welcomed back to the Tengen Gate with open arms, and the guardians wasted no time treating her and Emily's injuries and setting up a room for them to sleep. Serena was just getting ready for bed, washing off the last traces of dirt from her face when she heard a knock on the bathroom door. She looked in the mirror and saw it was Emily.

"We're not flying home, are we?"

Serena chuckled and shook her head. She dried her hands and her towel and then pulled out the Samuraizer. She gave it back to Emily.

"Hopefully the others will meet us here."

"Have you called them?"

Serena shook her head. The thought had crossed her mind, but now that she and Emily were safe she wanted to make the Samurai worry a little bit. She had figured out their plan, after all, and though it had saved her butt, she didn't like it.

"If they don't find us by morning, we'll call. For now, we sleep. I'm tired, how about you?"

Emily nodded. Serena guided her back to the bedroom and gestured to the bed. Emily shook her head and stood in the doorway. Serena groaned.

"What?"

"That's your bed."

"Eighteen years, Emily. We've shared beds for eighteen years…"

"I don't mind sharing a bed with you," Emily looked to her sister and smirked teasingly, "I just know what happened in that bed."

"I slept in it."

Emily nodded, "Yeah, you did. Do you remember who you slept in it with?"

"Dekker," Serena answered. "I slept with Dekker in this… oh."

"I love Terran," Emily gave Serena a pat on the back, "but not that much."

"The sheets were washed," Serena said, with a bit of hesitation in her voice. Emily gave her a look and she nodded her head, "Alright, yeah, it's creeping me out too."

"I call the couch!"

"Hell no!" Serena shouted. She grabbed Emily and pushed her to the ground, "I'm older. Couch is mine!"

Emily whimpered as she hit the floor, making Serena turn to see if she was okay. She didn't mean to hurt Emily. As she knelt down, Emily jumped up, giving herself a head start to the couch. Serena grumbled and rolled her eyes as she pushed herself back up and raced after Emily. Whoever didn't get the couch would have to sleep on the floor. Serena didn't want to sleep on the floor.

Emily smiled as she raced down to the living room and she saw the couch, but then something pulled her off course. The Tengen Gate was filled with guardians, but there were five people in the living room that didn't belong. Changing course, she ran away from the couch and jumped into Mike's arms.

"You found us!"

Mike nodded, holding Emily close, "Kind of by accident. Are you okay? Did Dayu hurt you?"

Emily shook her head, "Nothing I couldn't handle."

"Besides, she was with me," Serena said as she walked into the living room, happy as ever to see her friends. Mia walked over to her first, hugging her, relieved she seemed to be okay. Serena squeezed Mia tightly on purpose, hurting her sunburn. Then, she dug her nails into Mia's skin to really make a point. "Sacrifice my sister like that again," she whispered in Mia's ear, "and I'll make sure you're extra crispy. Got it, Sunshine?"

"Jayden's plan," Mia groaned. Serena let her go, then gave her a pat on the back. Serena did this to everyone, squeezing them a little too tightly to get her point across. Everyone threw Jayden under the bus like Mia did. Serena made sure to squeeze Jayden extra tight, and then let him know how the others _had his back._

"Thanks, guys," Jayden coughed as Serena let him go. He looked to Serena, "So what happened? What did Dekker want?"

As Serena explained to the Samurai her time as Dekker and Dayu's prisoner, and what they wanted her for, Emily tugged on Mike's hand and gestured to the couch.

"We're not going home right away, right?" she whispered. He shook his head.

"Maybe in the morning once we're all rested. Why?"

"I called the couch," Emily pulled him over and lay down on the couch with Mike. She nestled into his chest comfortably. Mike wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

"You know the house has beds, rights?"

Emily shook her head, "Terran was made in Serena's bed."

Mike's face fell, "Oh. I prefer the couch."

"Me too," Emily yawned.

When Serena finished explaining what happened, and threatened the Rangers one more time because of their plan of sacrificing Emily, she turned to the couch, "Now, Emily and I were racing so… dammit!" she noticed her sister and Mike were already passed out on the couch, taking all the room.


	7. Honeybees Sting

Serena didn't sleep well on the floor with her bruises and was up early in the morning as a result. With the others still passed out, Serena took some time to herself to wander around, taking in what had temporarily been her home.

Back when she had been the _elder _Guardian, all she could think of was going back home and being with her family. Though the Tengen Gate was a comfortable place, it was lonely without her friends. Still, she missed it now that she had been away for so long. The other guardians usually did their own thing, and they did it quietly, making it peaceful, unlike the Shiba House.

And though she would never go back to Dekker, choosing her complicated relationship with James over any kind of relationship with Dekker, Serena did miss how things were. At the Tengen Gate, just her and Dekker, it had turned into a home. They trained, they ate, they played, and they lived together. This was where she had fallen madly in love for the first time.

She was excited to get back home, but she wanted to take in the Tengen Gate a little more. After exploring inside and admiring everything that had changed so much, but not at all, she stepped outside into the yard.

"You're cunning," she heard Dekker say and she turned around instantly to find him only a few feet away. Unlike the Shiba House, the shield around the Tengen Gate was practically non-existent and completely useless against half-Nighlok like Dekker. He was free to walk right in and attack if he chose. However, there were so many well trained guardians around that it wasn't worth the battle.

"Or you're just stupid," Serena rolled her eyes. Now that she was back with the Rangers she had her Samuraizer in her possession again. She pulled it from her pocket. "Who leaves the door to a prison unlocked? If it was the other way around, and I had kidnapped you, I would have locked the door even if you were in a coma."

"I let you escape," Dekker told her. "We had a deal. We leave each other alone. So long as you promise to fight against Serrator like you fought for your sister."

"I want him dead just as badly as you do," Serena nodded. "You didn't need to kidnap me to make sure I would do all I could to kick his ass."

"Make sure it stays that way," Dekker said, "Don't make me regret letting you graduate early."

"Because I really want to make you proud," Serena rolled her eyes. She pointed to the gate, "Get off my property. You're no longer welcome here."

Dekker nodded and turned to leave. He couldn't stay long anyways. Dayu was still resting and had no idea he had left. However, he stopped midway and looked back at Serena.

"I lived here once."

"I never said that."

"I remember it," Dekker said. "It was you and I."

"Go."

"We have a history together."

"She said leave," Emily growled, stepping up behind her sister. After waking up and seeing Serena was gone, she had come to find her, and was not happy at what she had seen. She already had her Earth Slicer in hand and Dekker could tell from the look in her eyes that this wasn't going to be a time where she would miss her target. If he was right, her target was his neck.

Turning away, he set off. Emily started going after him, Samuraizer in hand, but Serena grabbed her arm, pulling her back. Emily looked up at her, "But he's starting to remember. I have to…"

"Emy, he's never getting me back. It's okay."

"It's not you I'm worried about," Emily looked to Dekker's retreating form. "If he remembers Terran…"

"Let me worry about my son," Serena wrapped her arms around Emily's shoulders. "For now he's still safe. If I need any help from you, I'll ask right away. And anyways, we don't need you running off on your own again. Nothing good ever happens to you when you run off on your own."

"I found you, didn't I?" Emily smirked. "And I had my Samuraizer, so the guys knew where to find us. That couldn't have worked out better if we had tried."

Serena kissed the top of Emily's head, "Oh, sweetie. You know, there's no such thing as accidents, right?"

Emily nodded her head, "Of course it was an accident. They never would have let me…" Emily trailed off when she saw her sister shaking her head, "They wouldn't have."

"If it's any consolation: they came for you right away, and the plan worked out perfectly. Apparently, it was Jayden's idea."

"Excuse me," Emily said, pulling away from Serena and heading inside. Serena bit her lip and counted the seconds before hearing a loud scream from inside the house. She winced.

"He should have known honeybees sting."

-Samurai-

Ji walked around the house, watering his bonsai to keep his mind off the mission the Samurai were on. This was why he loved bonsai – to him, they were a distraction. The Rangers teased him for having so many and for caring for them quite a bit, but they didn't understand the stress he was under. They each had a taste of it when they were forced onto the sidelines for a battle or two, but had to watch every day as his young Samurai returned home battered, bloody, and bruised, or sometimes they didn't return home at all. Caring for his bonsai took his mind off the Samurai and their war for a little bit and let him feel like there was nothing to worry about.

Storm following him around faithfully. Since she had seen him shove Mike into a strange portal, she had been taking every chance she could to thank him for sending the Spike-Mike away.

Suddenly, he heard the front door open and he knew the Rangers were back. Storm, excited her family was home, raced to the door, barking and bouncing until she saw who had come with them. Emily was home, but she had brought Mike with her. Storm growled, unhappy.

"Still hate me, huh?" Mike asked as Emily left his side to cuddle the dog. As Emily held her lovingly, Mike could have sworn the dog gave him a teasing look and stuck her tongue out at him. "Oh, yeah. She sleeps in my bed at night. Take that!"

"Sure you want to marry him, Em?" Antonio chuckled. "He thinks he's got competition with the dog."

"A girl dog, too," Mia added. Emily looked at the dog and then Mike and shrugged.

"I love them equally, but differently."

"I still win though, right?"

"Yes, Mike," Emily sighed. "You still win."

Mike stuck his tongue out at Storm. She snapped at him. Emily set her down and she ran off to play somewhere in the house where Mike wasn't.

As Ji came by to greet the Samurai, he stopped at Jayden, seeing a red mark on the beaten down red Ranger's cheek. He assumed Jayden was just tired from using symbol power to bring everyone home, but a look from Jayden made him doubtful, "What happened?"

"Honeybees sting," Serena smirked as she started for her room, "I'm going to get cleaned up."

"Emily figured out our plan and took it out on me," Jayden muttered.

Emily crossed her arms over her chest, "It was a mean plan. I'm mad at all of you for it. You're just the one I chose to beat up. I have revenge for all of you planned, though."

"You would have gone after Serena either way," Antonio shrugged, "I figured we had nothing to lose."

Emily growled, "Nothing to lose?"

Jayden gave Antonio a pat on the back, "Watch it, Goldie, honeybees sting."

"Do you want a head start?" Emily asked, glaring angrily at Antonio, "Or should we do it in front of the others?"

"Depends, if I can outrun you, will I avoid my punishment for good."

"Only if you can last longer than me," Emily nodded.

Antonio started to back away slowly, "I'll take my chances, then," and with that, he turned to run. Emily darter off after him once she counted to five. It wasn't much of a head start, but Antonio was the fastest of the bunch.

Suddenly, and not long after the chase started, the other Samurai heard a thump, and then a cry from Antonio. Mike gulped and started for his room.

"Where are you going?" Kevin asked, "Don't you want to see what'll happen?"

Mike shook his head, "Knowing myself, I'm going to be the next one to say something stupid and that'll be me instead of Antonio."

"You could call domestic violence," Jayden shrugged.

"Who will the cops believe?" Mike asked, "Me? The Samurai with rage issues? Or Emily?"

"If you wear your Pooh-Bear costume, you'll have more padding," Mia suggested. Mike smirked.

"That's true! Thanks Mia!" as he ran off to get changed, Mia smiled wickedly.

"Two for one," she said and then started heading down the hall, following Emily and Antonio's trail.

"Where are you going?" Jayden asked.

"To remind Emily that Mike went along with the plan."

"She's still mad at him for touching her sunburn," Kevin explained to Jayden.

Jayden shook his head, "Mike, you get what you give."


	8. Friend or Foe

Mia couldn't stand the constant poking. Not only was it irritating, but it HURT!

Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do about it. She had been a part of the plan of sacrificing Emily and needed to deal with the punishment. If she whined and complained and did anything to stop Emily from getting justice, she would have to deal with Serena, who was equally pissed off, but happy to let Emily handle all the Rangers' punishment.

This would be the very last time Mia did anything to put Emily in any kind of danger.

Finally, after jabbing her all through breakfast, Emily stopped. Mia breathed a sigh of relief and looked to the yellow Ranger.

"Am I done?"

Emily poked her once more and then nodded, "You're good. Learned your lesson?"

"You know I never would have let anything happen to you, right?"

"What could you have done to stop it?" Emily asked. "I was in Japan and you were here. Dayu could have killed me before you found me."

"Then I would have hated myself forever. And I would have to deal with an angry Serena."

"I'd have an entertaining afterlife if I got to watch that," Emily said and then got up from the table, "Now, I just have one more person I need to get."

"One more? You got Mike and I missed it?"

"I slept with the dog last night," Emily nodded. "Storm's been smirking at him all morning. It's pretty funny. On top of that, he's back in his Pooh costume. Humiliation is funny."

"I question you, Emily. You're not as innocent as you look."

"Of course not," Emily skipped away happily, "Where's Kevin?"

Mia nervously finished her breakfast, waiting for the inevitable scream and knowing she had gotten off lightly with the repetitive poking. Emily could have done worse – much worse. In fact, Mia was sure Emily was only going easy on the team because their plan had worked perfectly and no one had gotten hurt. If anything had happened, they would have been in for hell.

There was no scream until after training. Due to their punishment from Emily, Antonio and Jayden had given morning training a miss and were both hiding out in their bedroom. Because it was Jayden's plan, he was really taking a beating from Emily and needed the morning to bounce back.

Mike, however, was on the mat after locking the dog in the house and sticking his tongue out at Storm as she watched him from the window. There was a rivalry starting, and it wasn't about to die off anytime soon. In fact, Mia could see it getting worse and worse.

Kevin was out for training – though that was no surprise. Unless he couldn't get out of bed, he always made it to training.

Serena was also out. During the lesson she was somewhat slow because of the beating she had taken from Dekker and Dayu as they trained her, but she was still good enough to get her work done and practice a few things with Mia.

Emily showed up, but she was late. During training, Mia thought she would do something to Kevin. Hit him a little too hard on purpose, pants him, shower him in dirt, drop a stone on his foot, but Emily did absolutely nothing. She was her regular bubbly self. It was like no one had upset her in any way.

Then, when training was over and Mia went to her room to shower, she saw it. Everything had been moved. All her stuff and Kevin's stuff had been pushed around so they were a few inches from where they normally sat on their stands, tables and desktops. Mia didn't care, as long as everything had a place and the room looked clean, but she knew this would piss Kevin off. She started to snigger when she heard him approaching and stepped out of the room, closing the door.

"I just want to shower quickly," Kevin said when he saw she was keeping him out. "I'll be out of your way in ten minutes and then you can do whatever you need to do…"

"I am not responsible for what you are about to see," Mia said. "Nor is Mike," she added that part because Kevin usually blamed Mike for pranks like these, and thought that watching his fiancée sleeping with the dog instead of him was torture enough, especially when Storm wouldn't stop rubbing his face in it.

"What happened?"

Mia pushed the door open and Kevin's jaw dropped. She saw his eyebrow twitch and knew he was ready to lose it. It really made no difference to the room, but Kevin liked things to be perfect. He needed them to sit where they belonged and not a millimetre off. He also hated it when people touched his stuff without permission, and when people came into his room.

"Worst part is, you deserve it," Mia said. "Our plan was pretty risky. She has a right to be mad."

"Emily…" Kevin growled and clenched his fists. Mia chuckled. This was somewhat funny.

"She really got you. That vein in your forehead is sticking out like it used to before you and Mike were civil with each other."

"I'll kill her," Kevin said, "Does she not realize how long it's going to take to clean up this mess?"

"She realized," Mia laughed. "I think she knows exactly how long it'll take you to put everything back."

"She went too far," Kevin turned around, determined to talk to Emily about this mean prank, but as soon as he did he saw Serena standing at the end of the hall, with her arms crossed over her chest.

"You got off lightly, water boy," Serena said, "If anything had happened to her, I would have taken my lessons from Dekker and Dayu and practiced them on you. You're lucky I don't kill you now."

Kevin gulped and flicked his thumb in the direction of the room, "This shouldn't take too long to clean. The sooner I get started, the sooner I'll finish."

"There's a thought," Serena nodded and continued on her way. When she was gone, Kevin looked to Mia, who was still trying hard not to burst out with uncontrollable laughter. He knew she thought this was funny.

"Next time, we throw Mike to the wolves," he said. "Emily might still hate us, but at least Serena will find it funny."

-Samurai-

Dayu felt alone. She had Dekker walking a few paces behind her, but she still felt like there was no one left on earth she could count on. Xandred cared only for himself, Octoroo was always thinking of something, and it was never good for her, Serrator had betrayed her long ago, and though Dekker had no memory of Serena, he still seemed to be favouring her over Dayu. He had, after all, set her free.

She thought of going after the yellow Ranger again and making the Rangers suffer like she had suffered, but it wasn't worth it. All she would do was piss the Rangers off, really piss Serena off, and then she would be in for trouble.

She was stuck. With a sigh, she sat down on a log and kicked the dirt.

"You know, giving the right motivation, she will defeat Serrator," Dekker said. "She has the power. All she needs is a push. If we share her strength with Serrator, but make it out to be a weakness, he'll be setting himself out for destruction. We will have no blood on our hands."

"She'll hate you, you know," Dayu muttered. "Your precious Serena will forever loath you for putting her family in danger, and whatever deal you made with her that allowed her to leave, she'll break her end of it."

"I want my memories back," Dekker said. "As long as she never finds out we were behind Serrator's plan…"

"She'll know," Dayu sighed. "She'll find out. When she does, she'll kill you. She will not hesitate. It's a wonder you're still alive today."

"Urumasa…"

"Does nothing to protect you," Dayu said.

"Why do you hate her?" Dekker asked, "And why did it seem like she enjoyed pissing you off? Why does she hate me?"

"There's history."

"History I can barely remember," Dekker sighed, "and I'm getting the impression it's important."

"She stole something from me," Dayu said. "Something very important."

"What was that?"

"You," Dayu looked up at Dekker, hoping this would trigger something. Dekker just frowned.

"Me?"

"We cared for each other once. We were married. We still are, technically."

"But I've forgotten?" Dekker shook his head, "I am sorry, Dayu. I am not the person you once knew…"

"And it's because of her," Dayu said. "She stole you from me, and when she realized she couldn't change you, she dumped you and broke your heart like it never meant anything to her. She stole something from you too."

"What?"

"Your son."

Dekker shook his head, "I have no son. Why would she…?"

Dayu nodded, "You have a son, Dekker. A son with Serena. She never let you into his life. His name is Terran, and he is being raised by her and another man. A man who he will know to be his father, ignorant of the truth."

"The child… her son…"

"Is yours," Dayu said.

Dekker clenched his fist, "Why has she kept this hidden from me? Why have you kept this hidden from me?"

"Dekker…"

"I need to see him," Dekker said. He opened up a portal, ready to jump through and head back to Panorama City, "I need to see this for myself."

"She'll never let you near, Dekker. If you thought she was powerful while protecting her sister…"

"I'll force my way in," Dekker said. "If she has my son, my flesh and blood, and she's hidden him from me… I want him back."

"Dekker…"

"Either help me, or you'll be a part of the problem," Dekker growled. Dayu got to her feet and walked up beside him, taking his hand.

"Of course I'll help you," she said. "Unlike Serena, all I care about is _your _happiness."

Dekker scoffed and then jumped through the portal.

At first he thought Serena could help him and Dayu. After all, they both wanted the same thing, and his enemy's enemy was his friend, or at the very least an ally. However, it seemed that wasn't the case. His enemy's enemy was a threat. His enemy's enemy, Serena, was hiding behind Serrator, keeping herself covered so Dekker would never realize just how evil she truly was.

Breaking his heart, he could live with. He had no memory of his time with Serena and hearing he had his heart broken meant very little to him. Losing his memories was bad, but he knew one day he would get them back, or, because of the duel Urumasa craved, his life would end or the curse would end and he could start a new life.

Taking his son from him and hiding him away, Dekker couldn't forgive.

As they jumped through the portal, Dekker was angry, but Dayu had a smirk on her face. Without trying, it seemed things were coming together for her. Dekker now knew of her love for him and she could work at winning him back, and he seemed to be standing against Serena. He wasn't siding with Dayu, but he now saw Serena as a dangerous opponent.

Serena was her enemy, and Serena had now made an enemy out of Dekker.

As it turned out, for Dayu at least, her enemy's enemy was a friend.


End file.
